Living for Today
Asynchronous Session
Global Challenges and Local Solutions: Active Learning in the Service of Stakeholders View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Laura Robinson, Morgan Vodzak, Katia Moles
This study offers an innovative pedagogical approach for students to gain greater awareness of how local stakeholders are creating solutions for global challenges including those related to the migration and/or displacement of people, goods, and services. This research presents active learning pedagogies for students to study globalization through the lens of local stakeholder-led social change. Based on survey and interview data, this project examines how students can engage in active learning for which they serve local communities responding to global challenges including but not limited to: energy transitions and sustainability, growing economic divides, and access to education as a human right. The study draws on an original data set of over two hundred students who have taken part in specialized skills training and placed in teams to serve social entrepreneurs addressing key issues in globalization in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. Student teams work with social entrepreneurs leading local solutions to complex phenomena relating to infrastructure challenges (water remediation and clean energy production etc.) and local economies (artisanal production and family farms). The research offers replicable models for community-led active learning and emphasizes how students can learn cultural humility to take a stakeholder-centered approach, which is key to respecting and preserving local cultures. By ensuring that local communities are the drivers of change rather than students or educational institutions from the Global North, the project contributes to greater understanding of the socio-cultural dimensions of globalization.
Nurses on the Move: The Migration of Nigerian Nurses to the United Kingdom, 1930-1970 View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mosunmola Ogunmolaji
In 1948, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) was established. Following the end of World War 2, the recruitment campaigns to fill post-war shortages and rebuild the economy encouraged Africans from the Commonwealth to settle in Britain. Working in the NHS became a viable career path and training opportunity for nurses from former colonies. Yet, historical evidence shows the presence of Nigerian nurses in the United Kingdom as early as the 1930s. This paper explores the dynamic relationship between the professionalization of nursing in Nigeria and the migration of these nurses to the United Kingdom (UK). Drawing on labor and migration reports, newspapers, photographs, and oral interviews in Nigeria and the UK, I present a case for centering the everyday experiences of migrant nurses in national and transnational histories. By situating the histories of nurses in global migration, I trace the historical trajectory of nursing across colonial terrains. Despite the growing literature on African migrations, scholars primarily focus on the ‘illegality’ of such a process. This paper addresses an understudied aspect of African migration to Europe- professional migrants. Thus, this paper argues for integrating the history of nursing and African migration into global histories.
Resilient for Tomorrow's Growth: Different Perspectives of Environment and Global Supply View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Omolomo Tobora
In order to have resilient growth, there is a different perspective in the environment and global supply chain, which suggests an examination of how resilience can be fostered in the context of both environmental sustainability and the global supply chain. In this paper, I explore diverse viewpoints to understand how organisations and systems can adapt to challenges while considering environmental factors and supply chain dynamics, which involve a multidimensional analysis, and incorporate insights from environmental science, supply chain management, economics, and possibly other relevant disciplines. Secondly, evaluating perspectives on resilience, will contribute to a holistic understanding of strategies that can support sustainable growth in the face of environmental and supply chain uncertainties, which will acknowledge the need for resilience in the context of future growth. It suggests that the research may explore innovative solutions and adaptable strategies to address challenges and opportunities in both environmental and supply chain resilience Furthermore, the research may have practical implications for businesses, policymakers, and stakeholders involved in environmental conservation and global supply chain management. By considering different perspectives, the study aims to provide actionable insights that contribute to the development of robust strategies for tomorrow's growth.
Belt and Road Initiative’s Mechanism on Strengthening Network and Lock-in Effect: Evidence from Case Study on Energy and Infrastructural Related Projects in Central Asia View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Shibo Zhao
The One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI), organized by China, is by far the most ambitious plan on earth for fostering economic collaborations. Within a few years of its announcement from President Xi Jinping, the number of countries in the initiative surpassed 100. Despite as an economic plan and without clear structures of an international organization such as the United Nations and World Trade Organization, the BRI exhibited some features of an international organization. The network and lock-in effect theories are often used to explain and analyze international organizations' functioning and speculate their futures. The paper presents a case study regarding BRI projects related to energy transportation and infrastructure constructions in Central Asia to claim the presence and functioning of the Belt and Road Initiative's network effects and lock-in effects in Central Asia. The paper utilized the concrete energy and infrastructural projects from the BRI scheme in Central Asia to qualitatively present how networks are created, network effects are generated, and lock-in effects are strengthened. The paper further claims that the combination of the strengthening network and lock-in effects would facilitate a self-reinforcing mechanism for BRI to increase its global influence in non-member states and urge its current members to stay in the organization more securely, resolutely, and unwaveringly.
Beyond Borders: Investigating Motivations, Identity Dynamics, and Challenges in the Digital Nomad Experience View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anna Matilda Dsouza, Priya Vijaykumar Poojary
Digital nomadism has emerged as a rapidly growing trend in the context of the digital age and the evolution of remote work. The advent of advanced technologies, particularly the internet, has facilitated the liberation of individuals from the traditional confines of a fixed physical workplace and given rise to a global community of digital nomads who leverage technology to work remotely from diverse locations, transcending geographical boundaries. An emerging corpus of literature demonstrates the presence of digital nomads who pose significant challenges to the current ideas of work and state centric policies on citizenship and employment. Further, digital nomadism needs to be understood within a globalizing society resulting in evolving work practices and discourses relating to migration. This paper seeks to illuminate the multifaceted dimensions of the digital nomad experience, offering fresh perspectives on motivations, identity formation, and challenges faced by digital nomads. The study employs a qualitative research design, engaging with the digital nomad community through video analysis on the Youtube platform. Video analysis offers a unique opportunity to explore this phenomenon in depth by tapping into the wealth of firsthand accounts in the form of videos available on YouTube. In doing so this paper aims to examine the phenomenon of digtal nomadism, discussing the implications for the future of work and migration. Further, the paper also challenges the underlying assumptions within existing literature that emphasize freedom as the primary reason for opting to become a digital nomad.
